MIS Snowtime Tutorial

Snowtime Tutorial

This is the tag we will be making:

Easy to Medium level - Basic knowledge of PSP is needed.

Materials Needed

Paint Shop Pro  (used Version 9, but can be done on any version)

Image/Photo of Choice - I used "Below Freezing" by Mis - I have her Unlimited License to use this.  If you would like to use it too, you can get this amazing image at Indie-Zine

Postage Stamp Template and Blue Snowflake "Dangle" by Me , in zipfile, HERE 

Filters Needed 

Blinds - comes with PSP

DSB Flux - Bright Noise   (or the noise filter in PSP if you don't have this filter -- settings for this filter will be in parenthesis in the area that calls for the DSB Flux filter)

VM Natural - Lightburst -- shareware, found HERE

Optional Filters (for Name/Text)

Eye Candy 4000 - HSB Noise

Eye Candy 5 Impact - Gradient Glow

Fonts used

KR Kinda Flakey (for shape)

Ambitsek (for copyright info)

Signboard Font (for name/text), (free for personal usage) 

Please note that I typically add my drop shadows last.  I will give the drop shadow settings that I have used at the end of the tutorial HOWEVER feel free to use your own settings if/when you would like.

1.  Install the font.  (Alternative:  You can open and minimize the font; it should show in PSP.  I use a font program called Cfont Pro (http://www.veign.com/application.php?appid=101) - it temporarily installs the font and will uninstall it when you shut down your computer.)

2.  Open a new file, 600 pixels x 700 pixels, 72 ppi, transparent.  Flood fill with white.  At this time, also Shift+D on your image (this will make a copy of your image) - then close out the original, then minimize it for the time being.

3.  Go to your materials palette and choose a complementary dark color as your foreground and a lighter version of that color as your background.  (I used #215475 for my foreground and #e0eff8 for my background.)  Activate your text tool with these settings:

Create as:  Vector

Direction:  Arrow Pointing Down (1st option)

Font:  KR Kinda Flakey

Size:  450

Stroke:  4.0

Alightment:  Center

Anti-Alias:  Smooth

Line Style:  Solid

(the rest of the settings don't matter for this particular part of the tutorial)

Choosing a snowflake that you like, type it out (I used Shift + F).  When happy, go to Objects - Align - Center of Canvas.  While its still in vector format, do any moving around that you might need if it doesn't fit the canvas or you wish to make any adjustments.  Once happy, convert it to raster.

4.  Go to the stamp template, and copy and paste the following layer to your snowflake file:  white stamp cutout (should be the layer directly under "black insert").  If not already, move it to the layer above your snowflake.  Close out the snowflake layer, then go back to the stamp template layer.  Using your magic wand tool, click on the inside of the stamp.  Go to Selections - Modify - Expand .. by 6.0 pixels.  Go to your image and resize if needed (I ended up having to size mine down to 425 pixels x 637 pixels so that it would fit decently in the stamp frame.)  Move the image around so that the part you want in the frame is within the marching ants.  Once satisfied, go to Selections - Invert then click on your "Delete" button.  Selections - Select None.  Move image just under the stamp layer.  In your layer palette, you will want to lock the stamp layer and the image layer together:

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That way when/if we need to move them, they will move together and you won't need to keep matching it up.

5.  Take your snowflake layer and duplicate it 3 times (so you will have a total of 4 layers).  On the very bottom snowflake layer, go to Image - Rotate and use the following settings:

Then resize it by 85%.  Adjust - Blur - Gaussian Blur ... by 10.0 pixels.  Effects - Texture Effects - Blinds with these settings:

Go to the bottom snowflake layer and apply the DSB Flux - Bright Noise filter with the following settings:

Intensity:  50

Direction:  Mix

Apply the same filter on the other 2 layers EXCEPT when you do each layer, click on "Mix" twice before clicking "OK".

(**IF you are using the Noise filter that comes with PSP, go to Adjust - Add/Remove Noise - Add Noise and use the following settings:  Uniform, Monochrome checked ... on bottom snowflake layer use noise of 40%, middle layer use noise of 50%, on top layer use noise of 45%)

6.  Go to your stamp layer and go to Adjust - Color Balance - Manual Color Correction   ... and color it to complement the colors you are using with your snowflake and image (I am using a icy blue color).  When using this, be sure your source color is the color you are starting with (white, in this case) and the target color is the one you want your frame to be.  Then apply the VM Natural - Lightburst filter with the following settings:

(I'm using mine through Filter Unlimited 2.0 however the settings will be the same regardless of whether you run it through a filter program or directly.)

7.  Copy and paste the snowflake dangle to your tag file.... arrange to top layer and resize as needed.  (I resized mine to 55%.)  Arrange on right side of tag (see mine for idea).

8.  Resize to 500 pixels x 500 pixels ... 72.000 ppi.... Weighted Average ... "all layers" CHECKED.  Feel free to use the crop tool to crop out any additional edges from the tag.  Use the Sharpen option (Adjust - Sharpness - Sharpen) if needed to clarify your layers.

8.  Apply any desired drop shadows to the layers ... I used the following with the Drop Shadow settings:

On stamp frame and dangle:

Vertical and Horizontal:  0

Opacity:  45

Blur:  8.00

Color:  black (or a dark shade of what you are using -- not black unless black is a major color on your tag)

On the noised snowflake layers:

Vertical :  0

Horizontal:  0

Opacity:  55

Blur:  11.00

Color:  #244d64  (I used the dark foreground color I used earlier) 

Shadow on new layer: unchecked

I did not apply any drop shadow to the image or the very bottom snowflake layer (with the gaussian blur and blinds filter).

10.  Apply crediting information and watermark.  If you wish to make this a non-animated tag, close out 2 of the noised snowflake layers, then merge visible.  Apply name text and then you are done!

(If you want to animated the tag, see below)

~Animation Shop Directions ~

If you are wanting to animate your tag, after you apply your crediting information and watermark, do the following.

1.  Close out the top and middle noised snowflake layers.  Go to Edit - Copy Merged  ... Edit - Paste as New Image.   Then close out the bottom noised snowflake layer and unhide the middle one.  Go to Edit - Copy Merged.... Edit - Paste as New Layer ... do the same thing for the last noised snowflake layer.  You should now have 3 layers.  When you save, save as "Animation Shop .psp":

Open Animation Shop ....

File - Animation Wizard ... using these settings:

1st window:   Same size as the first image frame (ticked)   (next)

2nd window:  Tranparent (ticked)   (next)

3rd window:   Upper left corner of the frame (ticked) / With the canvas color (ticked)   (next)

4th window:   Yes, repeat the animation indefinitely (ticked) / How long ... : 30   (next)

5th window:   click "Add Image", browse to location of your file then click "open", then "next"

6th window:  Finish

Your animation will now show up in Animation Shop.  

2.  Go to View - Animation to check if it is running at a desired speed.  Feel free to modify the speed if you would like.  (To do that, go to Edit - Select All  (or CTRL + A) and then right click on the first frame and go to Frame Properties and change the number... a smaller number will make it run faster, a larger number will make it run slower. ... when happy with settings, click OK.  You can check them by going to View - Animation.) ... I ended up changing mine to 15.

3.  Now, I always save a blank of my tag on my computer so that I can tag it for people later on.  So I will save the tag with the default settings (what AS installed with) ... usually these settings work ok (however red tones are pretty iffy) ... here is what I used:

Click on the CUSTOMIZE button and use these settings:

click OK ... all the way until it saves your tag.

Now all you need to do is put the name on it!  Go to PSP and, using your text tool, make up your name.  (I'll give you my settings at the end) ... Once you have your text the way you like, copy it, and then bring it over to Animation Shop and paste it. The click on CTRL + L twice (this will put 2 more layers of your name after the current animation frame, which is your first name frame).

You should now have 3 name frames.  While you have your names active, go to Edit - Select All (or CTRL + A), then Edit Copy (or CTRL + C) .... then go to your tag, click inside the 1st frame, then go to Edit - Select All (or CTRL + A) and then Edit - Paste - Into Selected Frame (or CTRL + E) .... place name where you want ... when happy, left click your mouse... name will place in the frame your own AND the other frames.  Feel free to go to View - Animation to see the tag with name on it.  When happy, save tag with previous settings, being sure to change saved name so that you don't save over your blank template.  (For example, my blank tag is name MIS-Snowtime_ani-blk.gif ... so my tagged tag would be something like MISSnowtimeMisbyWR.gif.)

And you're done!!!

~NOTE~  For name/text:

I did the text at size 56, stroke 2.0 .. foreground and background colors the same as used in tutorial... kern: 0.0

I applied Eye Candy 4000 - HSB Noise with the following settings:

And then I used Eye Candy 5 Impact - Gradient Glow with the following settings:

And then used the following drop shadow

Vertical :  2

Horizontal:  -2

Opacity:  30

Blur:  14.00

Color:  black 

Shadow on new layer: unchecked

and done!

I'd love to see what you come up with and thanks for checking out my tutorial!

Popeye Love Tutorial

Hello and welcome! This is the tag we will be making today:

 

 

 

Now, it can be made either animated or non-animated. The animated directions are towards the bottom, after the **.

 

Moderate level - Some knowledge of PSP is needed.

 

 

Materials Needed

Paint Shop Pro & Animation Shop (used PSP9 and AS3, but can be done on any version)
PTU kit called Game of Love by Staceys Designs which can be bought at Katelynn's Designs
Tubes by Popeye Wong which are Free To Use and can be found here (thanks Popeye!)
Mask - OvalSlatsMask.jpg – HERE

 

 

Filters Needed:

Xenofex 2 – Constellation

Filters Unlimited 2 (Paper Textures)

Fonts used:

FFF Professional (for copyright info)

Doodle Journal (for name/text)

 

 

 

DIRECTIONS

 

 

1. Open PSP. Open New File, 600 pixels x 600 pixels, 72.000 resolution, transparent. (Don't worry if it looks too big now, we can crop it down later.) Also open your mask and minimize it in PSP.

2. Copy and paste the triple circle frame, do your best to center it. Feel free to close out the original.


3. Taking your preset shape tool, choose the ellipse (not the circle, but the oval), foreground and background medium gray, line width 2.0, draw an oval over one of the circles in the frame, like this:

Be sure that the edges of the gray ellipse/oval shape is wider than the inner space of the frame area. Once you have it how you want it, convert layer to raster. Duplicate it twice, then move them so you have an oval under each of the oval areas of the frame. We will be using these gray ovals as a template of sorts for the background and the pictures/tubes. Close all layers except the ones with the gray ovals, then merge visible, then move them under the frame layer. You can now unhide the other layers.

4. Copy and paste one of the papers from the kit (I am using Paper1). Feel Free to resize the paper (be sure 'all layers' is UNchecked ... I resized mine to 500 pixels x 500 pixels). Make the 3 oval layer active, then go to Selections - Select All.... Selections - Float.....Selections - Defloat. Go back to the paper layer, make active, then go to Selections - Invert, then click on the Delete key. You should now have the papers in the same area as the gray ovals. Move the paper layer below the frame layer but above the gray ovals layer.


5. Now, with the marching ants still active, copy and paste your tubes that you will be putting in the frames. When you are happy with how they are, just simply click the Delete key (since you have already Inverted the selection, it is set to delete everything outside of the frame area). Make sure that the image/tube layers are between the frame layer and the paper layer. Go to Selections - Select None.


6. Now, we have 2 frame areas that have doodles over them so we need to do something about it. Duplicate the images that are in that area, then move them above the frame layer. Take your eraser brush and use the following settings:

Shape: circle
Size: 25
Hardness: 100
Step: 25
Density: 100
Thickness: 100
Rotation: 0
Opacity: 100

You are going to delete the bottom area of the tubes that overlap the frame area, like this (feel free to zoom in on the area to help you see better):

7. Feel free to add drop shadows to your tubes (bottom images ONLY - don't add a drop shadow to the top ones that you erased), and feel free to add your favorite drop shadow on the frame.

8. Go to the paper layer and make active. Go to Filters Unlimited, then Paper Textures, and choose the Filter Paper option and use the following settings:

then click Apply. This will give some texture and definition to your frame's background. Don't worry about the outer edge that you might see - it will be gone when we crop down our final tag.
Close out the gray oval layer and the bottom layer (which should be blank) and Merge Visible everything else.

9. Move the frame up a little from the center. Take another paper and copy and paste it to the tag (I used Paper7), moving it below the frame. Resize it 600 pixels x 600 pixels (all layers UNchecked). Go to Layers - New Mask Layer - From Image and use these settings:

Merge Group. (Be sure you only merge the mask group - do not include the frame layer in this merge.) Move the frame and/or mask layer, if needed, so that the frame is centered on the oval slats. Unhide the very bottom layer and flood fill it with a complementing color from either one of your images/tubes or the kit (I am using color #ca7e9e).

10. Take the winged heart element and copy and paste it to your tag. Bring it to the top, and resize it by 75% (all layers UNchecked) and place it under the frame, centered. Apply your favorite drop shadow to it. Take the Forget Me Nots element, resize it by 75% (again, all layers UNchecked), and move it over to behind the left side picture in the frame (see my tag for idea). Duplicate flowers, then Mirror. Erase whatever is hanging over the bottom of the frame areas. Take your selection tool and choose the upper area of both of the flower layers. Go to Edit - Copy, Edit - Paste as New Layer. (You will need to do this twice - once for each flower layer.) If needed, place them directly over their corresponding flowers. (They may copy and paste right in the same area, in which case no moving is needed.) Move both of these above the frame layer, then erase all the parts that hang over the framed images. Apply your favorite drop shadow to the bottom flower layers (not the top ones that you erased).

11. Copy and paste the decorated flower, resize by 40% (all layers UNchecked). Sharpen, if necessary. Place it below the left frame oval area and bring to top. Apply the following drop shadow:

Vertical: 0
Horizontal: 0
Opacity: 75
Blur: 15.00
Color: black
Shadow on New Layer: not checked

Duplicate, then mirror. Delete the gray ovals layer. Crop your tag, like this:

then (if you wish to make this non-animated) Merge Visible. (If you wish to make this animated, do NOT merge visible.... go to directions, below, starting at the **.) Resize so that it is about 500 pixels wide. Apply copyright information and name/text, as shown in my tag at the top.

And you are done!

**To make tag animated**

1. If you wish to animate your tag like I have in my tag, first, close out the bottom layer and the slat/mask layer. Merge Visible all the other layers. Now unhide the bottom layer and slat/mask layer. Go to the mask layer (with the slats) and make active, then duplicate it twice (so you should have 3 layers of it). Make the top slat/mask layer active (will most likely be one of the copied layers). Go to Xenofex 2 - Constellation and use the following settings:

2. Then go to the middle mask layer, make active, then go to the Constellation filter again, this time hitting the "Random Seed" button twice, then "ok". Do the same thing to the bottom mask layer.

3. On a new raster layer, apply your copyright information, bring to top.


4. Ok, now - here comes the fun part. Close out the bottom 2 mask layers so that only the top one is showing. Go to Edit - Copy Merged ... Edit - Paste as New Image. Now, close out the top mask layer, and unhide the middle mask layer. Go to Edit - Copy Merged. Then go over to your other image and make it active (click on it) and go to Edit - Paste as New Layer. Now, go back to what you were working on, close out the middle mask layer and unhide the bottom one. Do the same thing that you did with the middle mask layer: Copy Merged, then go to the other image (which now has 2 layers) and click on it, then go to Edit - Paste as New Layer. You should now have 3 layers. This will be what you bring over to Animation Shop. Save as follows:

Now, in Animation Shop, go to File - Animation Wizard and choose the following when they come up:

*Same Size as the first image frame (next)
*transparent (next)
*Upper left corner of the frame, With the canvas color (next)
*Yes, repeat the animation indefinitely, 30 (next)

Click on "Add Image" and browse to where you saved your .psp file (be sure that "File Type" is for Paint Shop Pro Image). When you have it, click Next, then Finish. It will now open up your tag, in frames.
To check the speed of your animation, go to View - Animation. (Just click on the "X" in the upper right to stop the animation.) To Save this as a blank, go to File - Save As and save it in .gif format.

To add a name, go back to PSP and, on the top layer, apply text, and add any kind of effects you would like. When you have your name the way you like it, go to File - Copy. Then go back to Animation Shop and go to File - Paste as new animation. You are going to need 3 frames to match up the 3 frames of your animation. So go to Edit - Copy then Go to Edit - Paste After Current Frame (do this twice - to give you 3 frames of the name). Go to your tag, then go to Edit - Select All.... Edit Copy.... Edit - Paste as New Animation. Go to your names and go to Edit - Select All .... Edit Copy. Then go to your tag and go Edit - Select All, Edit - Paste Into Selected Frame. You will notice that you are able to move it around... do so until it is where you like it, then left click on your mouse - this will place it where you want it, in ALL the frames. When satisfied, save it as a .gif.

And you are done!!

I would love to see what you make if you try this tutorial!!

Thanks for looking!

Penguin Parade Tutorial

TUTORIAL: Penguin Parade

This is what we will be making:




Moderate level - Some knowledge of PSP is needed.


Materials Needed

Paint Shop Pro (used Version 9, but can be done on any version)
Animation Shop 3.0
PTU kit by Tamsin McAtee Studios ("Penguin Christmas, Tagger") which can be bought at Katelynn's Designs
Poser from Batschis Poserdesign (sak6) , received through her group HERE
Zuzzanna Mask "Winter" (8th from top)
Filters Used: Eye Candy 5 Impact - Gradient Glow
Other Supplies Needed: Animation, found HERE

 

 
Fonts used: FFF Fuego (for copyright info)

ResPublica (for name/text)



DIRECTIONS

1. Open PSP. Open a New File - 600 pixels x 600 pixels, 72.000 pixels per inch (resolution), transparent.

2. Open mask, then minimize. Open Paper 4, copy and paste as new layer on to your new file. Go to Layers - New Mask Layer - From Image and use these settings:



Right click on that layer in the layer palette. Merge - Merge Group. Rename this layer "mask". Close original paper.

3. Open frame 2. Copy and paste as new layer. Image - Resize - 75%, all layers UNchecked. Center the frame over the 'frame' part of the mask, as shown here:



Rename this layer "frame". Close original frame. With the frame layer still active, go to Effects - Eye Candy 5 Impact, Gradient Glow and use the following settings:



Apply the following drop shadow settings:

Vertical: 2
Horizontal: 1
Opacity: 75
Blur: 18.00
Color: black
Shadow on new layer: unchecked


4. Open Paper 3. Copy and paste as new image. Image - Resize - 600 pixels x 600 pixels, all layers checked. Copy and paste the resized paper to your tag. Right click on that layer
in the layer palette and bring layer to bottom (Arrange - Send to Bottom). Rename this "background". If you find you now have a spare (empty/blank) layer, feel free to delete it. Close original paper.

5. Go to Mask layer, right click on it, go to Properties, and use the following settings:



6. Open tube, then copy and paste as new layer on to your tag. Resize as needed. (Make sure "all layers" is UNchecked.) Right click on the layer, go to Arrange - Bring to Top. Move tube towards right side of red frame area (see my tag for idea). Rename layer "tube". Apply the drop shadow settings used earlier.

7. Open the igloo element. Copy and paste as new layer. Image - Resize - 45% - all layers UNchecked. Move to the lower left side of frame (see my finished tag for idea). Rename "igloo". Move this layer to just under the "tube" layer. Apply the same drop shadow settings on the igloo that you did on your tube. Close original igloo file.

8. Open one of the penguin elements (I chose the one with the green hat). Copy, paste as new layer. Image - Resize - 35% - all layers UNchecked. Move to in front of the igloo. Apply same drop shadow settings. Rename this "penguin1". Open another of the penguin elements and do the same thing, except move it to the lower right side of the tube. Rename this "penguin2". Close original penguin files.

9. Open Tree 1 element. Copy and paste as new layer. Move to under the 2 penguin layers. Apply previous drop shadow settings. Rename this layer "tree". Move the tree to the right of the tube. Close original element file.

10. Open flower 1 and flower 2 (elements). Copy one of them, then paste as new layer. Image - Resize - 85% - all layers UNchecked. Move it to the upper left corner of the frame. Apply the following drop shadow settings:

Vertical: 1
Horizontal: 0
Opacity: 75
Blur: 7.00
Color: black
Shadow on new layer: unchecked

Copy the other flower, then paste as new layer. Image - Resize - 60% - all layers UNchecked. Place over the other flower, but off to the side (see my tag for idea). Apply the drop shadow you did for other flower element. Rename the layers as "flower1" and "flower2", respectively. Close original element files.

Save your file as a .pspimage file. (You aren't done yet - this is just to save all that you have done so far, just in case!)

11. Open Animation Shop, then open the animation from the zip file in Animation Shop. Go to Edit - Select All. Edit - Copy. Then go BACK to Paint Shop Pro and go to Edit - Paste Animation as Multiple Images (see screenshot):



Each frame of the animation will now be open in PSP as an individual frame. The last frame in the animation (frame 10) will be on top so that frame 1 be at the bottom.

12. Go to Layers - New Raster Layer. On the new layer, take your selection tool, be sure it set on rectangle. With the tool, make a rectangle inside of the frame area. Close out ALL layers except the frame layer. Making sure you have the new raster layer active, go to Selections - Modify - Expand by 2. Click ok. Move the new raster layer just under the frame layer. This is where you are going to need to pay close attention to what you are doing.

13. Go to your materials palette. Click on the Pattern tab. Click on the little arrow next to the preview window to open up the thumbnails. You are going to want the image that corresponds to the "frame 10" of your animation (for me, it would be "image 18"). Click on it. Keep Angle at 0, Scale at 100. Click ok. Go to floodfill tool and floodfill the inside of your rectangle with the "pattern" (your snow). Rename this "snow 10". Close out this layer. Go to Layers - New Raster Layer. Move it to just above the "snow10" layer. Go back to your materials palette and click the image prior to the one you just did (for me it would be "image 17"). Flood fill the inside of your rectangle with this pattern, rename the layer "snow 9" then close out the layer. Do this for each frame of the animation so that you will end up having 10 "snow" layers (with the layers renamed "snow" 1-10). Go to Selections - Select None to get rid of the marching ants from your rectangle.

Your layer palette should look something like this:



14. Open all the layers up EXCEPT the snow layers 2 through 10 (keep them closed for now). At this point, if you want to add any additional elements to your tag, feel free to do so.

15. When done, go to Resize - 500 pixels x 500 pixels - all layers CHECKED. Feel free to sharpen each layer, if needed.

16. When done, add copyright/crediting information.

17. Now... we are going to make our file for our animation. Pay attention to detail, take your time. All your layers should be open EXCEPT snow 2-10 layers. With the snow 1 layer open, go to Edit - Copy Merged, Edit - Paste as New Image. Then go back to our "template" and close the snow 1 layer, and open the snow 2 layer. Go to Edit - Copy Merged. Then go to the new image and click on Edit - Paste as new Layer. Go back to the 'template' and close snow 2, and open snow 3. Go to Edit - Copy Merged. Then go to the new image and click on Edit - Paste as new Layer. Do this for each snow layer. When you are done you should have 10 layers (1 with each snow layer on it). Save as .psp (Animation Shop) file (will be at the very top of the drop down menu when you click on Save As).



Go back to Animation Shop. Go to File - Animation Wizard - use following settings:

window 1: Same size as the first image frame (next)
window 2: transparent (next)
window 3: upper left corner of the frame, with the canvas color (next)
window 4: Yes, repeat the animation indefinetely, with a setting on 10 (next)
window 5: click on "add image" then browse to where you saved the .psp file, click on it, then click the "open" button - you will see the file show up on the list. Click "next", then "finish". The animation will now open up in Animation Shop. To preview it, go to View - Animation. If you need to fiddle with the speed of the animation (for the falling snow), this is the time to do it. Once you are satisfied, save it as a .gif.

18. Go to Paint Shop Pro. Add text (name) to template. Add any effects, as desired. (I am using Gradient Glow with previously used settings). Once I have the text looking like I want, I go to Edit - Copy (*not* Copy Merged)..... then go back to Animation Shop and go to Edit - Paste - Paste as new animation (or, Control + V, if using a shortcut). Now, because I have 10 frames to my tag, I will need 10 frames of my name. So I will click on Control + L 9 more times to apply what I just had copied as a new frame AFTER my current frame. You should now have a total of 10 frames of the name (text).

19. Go to your tag animation, Go to Edit - Select All .... Edit - Copy.... Edit - Paste - Paste as New Animation. Minimize the original tag.

20. Click on the name file, then go to Edit - Select All.... Edit - Copy. Click on the tag then go to Edit - Select All.... Edit - Paste Into Selected Frame then position the text where you want it. You will see the name show up in the same location on each frame. If you are happy with it, save the tag as a .gif and you are done!!


I would love to see your results, as I am sure the scrap designer and artist would too!


Thanks for checking out my tutorial and be sure to check back often for more!!